By the time Atlus made Persona 3, they were on the edge of broke. The P3 project only got limited budget and requested to be finish in 2 years. Not to forget this whole new project was a huge change of direction from SMT, P1 and P2. P3 is certainly no way near perfect, but it gives its best and managed to form the very shape of later Persona games as we knew today.
Wait it's that true? But I can sense the rush in the design because for example Yukari hair isn't consistent between animated scene and in game design.
@@abdulsoleh7131 It is. Well maybe not on the edge of broke but they were in a very difficult time. SMT3 and DDS got very good reception but sales were poor (270k and 150k copies sales, way below their expectation), and even cauesd quite a employee cuts in Atlus. Not just that, P4 alse released just 2 years after P3, and as you can see they use most of shadow models from P3 (budget and schedule reason). But I think by the time they made P4, Atlus was pretty sure they were on the right track
Yo, is that real?! I just know about this info ever since I played the game ages ago! To think that P3 would be the make-or-break title of Atlus is wholesome
@@hemera5518 You can check the sales record over the titles before P3. Atlus was one of those minor companies walk on ice, where any wrong step could be fatal till they finally a part of SEGA in 2016.
I finished Akinari's social link on the very last day possible before the Nyx fight so when he popped back up with the other social links it actually made me cry a little given the message of the social link and the ending of the game.
Nam12399 yeah, they did the same thing with Persona 4 Golden. The FES stand for festival, as the game was released in April, a month that features several parades and festivals in Japan. Likewise, Persona 4 Golden is named after "Golden Week", which is a week during which many holidays occur in Japan, from late April to early may. P4G wasn't released in that golden week, but the naming convention of It being named after a Japanese holiday is still valid.
This video was pretty good. I just wish you at least mentioned Koromaru. He doesn't have a social link or really much for the story but he's a good boi and deserves at least a mention lol
Koromaru is the best boi and I love him dearly. I just didn't really have anything interesting to say about him. Plus I didn't really use him too much in my party.
Honestly Yukari's social link is fine to me. It's sort of a representation of the fact that people don't need to have an intricate social relationship to be good friends. Sometimes, shooting the shit with your friends is all you really need to become closer.
I don't really get people's problems with Yukari's SL. I mean, it fits her character like a glove. As you said, not every SL has to be "here is this super deep problem I have which I will fix by the end of the SL". Considering the situation both were in, simply hanging out and talking about shit would be more than enough to become closer
Here is the thing there already is the system where they or you request to just hang out with each other and gain points and making these hang outs almost indistinguishable as the main link makes her link kinda boring to go through where the point of social links is to learn and grow a strong bond with them Which makes it more impactful for me when they rank up after going through something important with them or learning more about them.
Hey man, I don't know what you're talking about with the Maiko s.link. I mean, its not like atlus would let you do anything weird with a grade schooler while you yourself are playing as a high school kid. Anyway, I'm gonna go play Femc in P3P, I'm almost finished with Ken's social link, I wonder where it will go?
@Mr. Richard Smoker She gives you a promise ring, it's supposed to be cute cause she's just a kid and doesn't really know what marriage is, don't know why y'all are making it weird
Given it takes him 6 hours to talk to one person, eat a beef bowl, or do another mundane task, he has so much free time that I began to suspect that he WAS the villain. :P
Timestamps for anyone looking to skip to certain sections :) 0:00 Introduction 1:31 Story Opening 4:58 Combat & Tartarus 14:44 Social Links 40:40 Soundtrack 41:11 SEES Member Analysis 54:52 Plot & Theme Analysis 1:08:40 Conclusion
MudKevin The title for the answer is in reference to the ending of the journey, which I thought was great. I think the game as a whole is shy from being great, but not the ending which I think is top notch.
Nam12399 - damn, I thought the Answer really improved on the ending of P3 (story wise). It showed how the cast actually would have reacted to losing their best friend, and kind of the glue that kept the group together.
Fatalityfun the problem with the Answer is that Aigis and Yukari are the only ones with any major arcs of any kind. While I think both characters were handled very well for the most part, the handling for the other characters kind of sucks, especially for Ken.
You know, there are a lot of unrelated scenes that happen in social links in this game. But I kinda love that. Real life is having a good time with your friends, not a snappy narrative, you know?
For real. The experiences the games have are very subjective, so you can't really be objective about everything in it. I, for example, loved Shinji as a character because he was the strongest when introduced and had a funny characteristic of being a good cooker with his rough looks. His death really bummed me out because he was my favorite and I cried manly years when I heard his voice at the end. And that's just one difference to this review.
Persona 5 was REALLY helpful for me in the beginning days of the lockdown. My bubble is only like 4 people now so having a bunch of virtual friends to interact with was a godsend! I suppose I could buy a newer system so I could do online co-op play, but the characters of any Persona game all feel real enough to me. What an excellent series. And same with the main series SMT and the other spinoffs. It is really one of the only series I can truly resonate with, rpg or otherwise.
Never played this game, always hear about it from my friend, but holy crap that was the fastest hour of my life, I honestly forgot it was a video game and not a really well written anime or movie. Then BOOM I realized you can make your own path, very very nice review. Best one. Keep them coming I love you content
26:10 There's actually a very fun little tidbit about Innocent Sin Online, in that it's a Localization-exclusive reference. In the original Japanese version it was a reference to Megami Tensei and Megami Tensei II, in that it was named Devil Busters Online(an online version of a game that holds a lot of importance in MTII). Instead of Tatsuya and Maya, they take on the names N-Jima and Y-ko, shortenings of the names of the main characters of MTI. Though, seeing as they referenced the Persona 2 game that wasn't even translated at the time of release, I have to question why Atlus even bothered to change it.
That's actually super interesting. I had no idea that they changed it for the international version. It could've just been a nod to hardcore fans who did do their research about the rest of the Megaten series after Atlus started to release their PS2 games in the west.
@@NamsCompendium Atlus does actually do it again in Persona 4 for that very reason, changing a reference to a famous Japanese detective into a reference to detective Raidou Kuzunoha, from Devil Summoner. Back in the PS2 days Atlus loved tying their games together just for the fun of it, and throwing the hardcore fans a bone here and there was something they did often.
innocent sin wasnt translated in the west at the time, but eternal punishment was so while naming it innocent sin online instead of eternal punishment online was a weird call, naming the characters tatsuya and maya was an easter egg fans of the franchise up until that point still couldve picked up on
@@JAMSP00N Right, I know that Eternal Punishment was localized at the time. My question is why they'd switch from one non-localized game to reference to another non-localized game. I understand wanting fans to feel rewarded for keeping up with the series, but Devil Busters Online would be an even better choice in that regard too. Innocent Sin Online just creates a confusion on if the events of Persona 2 happened in 3-5, while Devil Busters Online exhibits that this video game series the main character of the very first game made still exists and so he still exists too. Very different messages, you know?
I always say persona 3 is my favorite persona game and I always get told eww it’s so old and your so emo but they never realized what the true meaning of the game is, that everyone will die at one point, doesn’t mean you have to dread death, it means you have to make the most of it with what and who you have and enjoy your time with your current loved ones, every time I watch the ending I can’t stop crying because of how perfect and emotional it is
They says 3 is old school? I found it pretty modern actually. Now, the first three games 1, 2 IS, 2 EP, are definitely old school! They are quite the painful playthrough until you just give in to the complete lack of modern quality of life additions. Dungeon crawling is a slow go because you get 10 steps between battles. You have to constantly move the camera so you can see everything in dungeons. Menus are like a labyrinth to do any task. The demon fusion system is like unlocking a safe. But, it is so worth playing them because they are great games for their time!
I wanna ask something is the protagonist dead? I played p3 back then when i was 9 or so, i dont really understand english that time but i played it coz my big brother bought the game so i just play it but i kinda forgot what the ending is like and kinda curious, but i dont wanna play the game again coz i fucking hate tartarus and refuse to climb all 500 floor again, so can someone simply tell me what happen to minato after? Thanks:D
I just saw that seen at the end of Reload a couple hours ago, I was already teary eyed at that point... and I laughed. I laughed and I cried. I love that fucking game.
I actually like Mamoru's story. He had to give up his dream and go to work to feed his family, that's his fate, accepted it or not(which he did), life goes on. Fate was one of the main themes of P3, so I don't have any problem with that. Besides protagonist was no magician that can fix everything in people's life, just like there's nothing he can do to Maiko's parents broke, nor Akninari's gonna die. There's no stole your heart stuff in life. It was all those people and their stories protagonist came across shaped him and made him a better person.
I was so confused when Chidori suddenly came back to life. I accidentally picked all of the dialogue options to trigger that scene because I wanted to be a bro to Junpei and then that scene happened and I was like "Wait, what? How?" And then a little later, I looked it up and discovered that the scene was an optional "What-If" scenario that wasn't in the original.
I was very upset about that when I learned that it wasn't canon. Junpei and Chidori deserved the good things, but I know that the themes of the game wouldn't let her survive to begin with. Oh well.
The logic is that chidori can give life energy to things like flowers. The doctor gave her these flowers as a last tribute and they gave her the life energy back
I both have my pros and cons with chidori's resurrection. I definitely agree with you in the sense that Chidori coming back to life panders too much towards fanservice and can definitely mitigate the impact of loss (trust me, I've seen too many comic book character revivals to count). However, as someone who had no idea her arc was altered in fes and thought that her revival was scripted from the beginning, it came as a shocking yet pleasant surprise when I saw that she was alive. I had next to no knowledge of the story's ending when I finished fes 2 months ago, and I can only say that, in my experience of playing the game, the wills and the desires of the protagonist's friends are what gave me the strength and determination to finish strong (a sentiment I see universally shared among players during the final month). And, keeping in mind that the game leaves you with the idea that you will hopelessly lose, I only felt that Chidori's revival gave me, and junpei as well, even more of a drive to win such an impossible battle since we had to defeat Nyx to keep Chidori safe and sound; Junpei still has something to fight for. Admittedly, this does change how junpei's arc ties back to the game's main theme as his motive in the end changes from "fighting for chidori's death and her memory" to "fighting to keep Chidori alive," which is certainly weaker imo. Weaker as it may be, I'm sure I and many other fans would definitely still take this route because it still adds upon the message of the game in the sense that life is worth living to protect the lives of loved ones, not entirely unlike fuuka's desire to protect natsuki in the end. Plus, come on, can anyone blame me for feeling so damn happy for Junpei in the end? It was well acted on the va's part, and it, personally, really got me pumped and primed to take out Nyx and secure Junpei's happiness. Sure, it's still very respectable and understandable that people don't like this creative decision, but it certainly isn't the worst thing that some people make it out to be.
I feel like you're undercutting Yukari's development quite a bit here. Agreeably, it's one of the weaker arcs, but I think you forgot to mention how the true tape revealed how Yukari's father, rather than taking full blame for the experiment, was *only* trying to stop the experiment from going through. Although the depth and length of his involvement in the incident is left somewhat ambiguous in the end, the game is communicating that his role is *entirely* flip-flopped from being "the proprietor of the story's conflict" to "the only one who did his best to stop the fall from coming." You can check the scene of Yukari's resolution and compare it to ikutsuki's doctored tape to really see how yukari didn't forgive her father, since she realizes that he didn't even do anything wrong in the first place (this is understandably easy to miss as this development happens wayyyyyy near the end of the game; I missed it too and had to check back since I was a little confused). I posit instead that Yukari's resolution stems from her desire to carry on with her life since that is what her father desired and comes to this revelation not by forgiveness but by receiving and reciprocating newfound love for her father, love that she never knew he had for her until she watched the tape (she is the lovers arcana after all). I intend no offense when I say this, but for the purposes of discussion and critique, it seems to me that you were pretty biased against Yukari and didn't take much interest in her arc (which I get of course, I thought she was kinda bitchy too).
I'm honestly a bit confused with how he tackles Yukari and her father. As far as I remember, it wasn't anything like resentment-turned-forgiveness, but vaguely about wavering conviction? I mean, she joined SEES with the conviction to find out what happened to her father after reading his letter. After Yakushima, she became confused rather than resentful, questioning him and her motivations now that it's apparently revealed the man she loved and believed in caused everything they're fighting. But, yeah, she continues on and becomes more resolute when it's revealed her father loved her and she wasn't wrong for believing in him back then. I didn't get her resolution all that well before, but yours put it aptly: his message was for her to live well and be strong, and she takes this into heart as she continues to fight and get rid of the Dark Hour with renewed conviction that stems from her faith and love in her father, her desire to no longer run away, as well as her desire to continue what her father had done to stop the Shadows.
I was playing in the wrong order persona 5 then 4 golden and then 3 fes but it feels like the gameplay is getting better not worse I thought each game should be an upgrade to the one before it yet what happened to the split up mechanic I love that mechanic
In Japan, it's generally seen as an admirable thing if adults/teenagers are friends with children. This is contrasted to our Western view, wherein we would usually accuse such adults/teenagers as having ulterior motives.
@@lucifermorningstar7983 if you'd actually lived in japan you'd know that the police will suspect you instantly. Luring them to the playground with candy isnt being "friendly" to kids. Don't try and warp asian culture based on a video you've misinterpreted
Honestly I’m surprised that this video doesn’t have a million fucking likes because this was the best review so far that I’ve seen on Persona 3 AND on any Persona game. I can’t wait for the review on the answer. PS. I almost cried during the ending of a game I’ve never played. But, here’s to hoping they make a remake/port Bc I’ll buy it day one for sure!
I actually have the answer video up on my channel if you want to check it out! Thanks for the kind words. I really want the PS2 Atlus games ported in some big collection because that would be sick.
There is a good Persona 1/2 analysis series called the Persona compendium. The guy is still working on it, but it's really good. I think both of you would quite enjoy it.
@@NamsCompendium I had to @ someone, but here is the first episode ua-cam.com/video/d-4LM5ULncs/v-deo.html. I hope you and Jplayzgamez enjoy it. It's by SnicketySlice. BTW, I really liked your P3 and P4 reviews, can't wait for your P5 review.
I am proabably the only person who likes Yukari and her social link. When I played, I read between the lines and interpreted the “fucking around” as a coping mechanism for an immature person who’s been abandoned by the people closest to them in a sense. It hit home for me, as my parents were either busy with work or busy taking care of my younger siblings, we moved around the country a lot during my developmental ages and what Yukari does resonated with how I felt. It’s something you can’t really face, you have to mature to understand how you felt. And, like crumpling a piece of paper, it scars you for life. Granted, it wasn’t the best way to display it; so much so that I think Yoshizawa’s confidant in P5R did it better in terms of her actions and how she deals with her issues. It’s really hard to explain, but the point is that I love Persona because they seem to get the themes down well and they get a lot of them for all walks of life who play.
On the contrary, I just find the "fucking around" as, well, normal teenager things. But even then, her Social Link didn't fail to establish what makes Yukari who she is (and what she could be after Rank 10): independent, lonely, prone to keeping a safe emotional distance from others to more accepting of help and emotional vulnerability. (Ironically, it's that emotional vulnerability that she shows to Minato that explains her distraught feelings in The Answer. I mean, allowing yourself to be vulnerable and pouring your heart out to someone makes them someone incredibly, painstakingly dear to you. The fact that another loved one of her dies just when she's about to move forward with life and patch things up with her past has got to hurt. But I digress.) I'm even okay that her Social Link ends with just the starting attempt to reconnect with her mother. Progress is progress, and I feel like showing that they do (or don't) reconnect within the Social Link will be too rushed and/or forced. Idk, Yukari did spend her formative years very, very estranged from her mother, and all that pent-up loneliness and anger can't easily disappear. Probably why she likewise resonates with me.
Schneeregen _ Oof, imagine being on life support/stuck in a coma while having potential, then the Dark Hour comes on. Shinji in the FeMC Route: *whistles*
Amazing review, I finished P3P Femc route a few days ago and you covered most of the differences in the guys route that I wanted to see. A few things I interpret differently are: -Mitsuru's arc was about learning to trust others. Its heavily tied to the main story with her hiding info from SEES, and Yukari consoling her after losing her dad proves to her that she can rely on other people. This is why her social link unlocks and she starts trying to experience the world outside of the Kirijo group. -Strega was only meant to be an obstacle and never a true antagonist. It was meant to show what the members of SEES could have become. It shows different methods of coping with trauma and powerlessness. Takaya weaponizes his trauma to hate humanity and manipulate his allies, while your team uses theirs to say that theres a way forward if you rely on others. That's why their fights are so easy, it shows how you have strength with people you care about, while they fight solo for 3 of the 4 fights. All of SEES start out apathetic to each other, and Strega with the help of Ikutsuki attempts to sow that apathy. -Chidori coming back to life was contrived, but I think that a message about bonds saving people who have suicide ideation is way better than her learning not to harm herself and then....killing herself anyway
Definetly, the only points of criticism i really disagreed with from this video were these points (and of course fuuka, although her arc is a bit less drastic it still highlighted her character and personality,), although i still feel like Strega were underwhelming despite what they represented I still don't know how i feel about yukari, although i don't think she is nearly as bad as he said, but thats more of a gut feeling as i havent taken the time to look back on her arc
@@alfthetruelord If we wanna talk Yukaris arc over P3 and the Answer, it's really strong. I like her, but I know shes nicer in the FEMC route so I cant speak for everyone. She starts out hating her mom for needing other people after her dad dies, because she cant understand why shed need someone else. Then by the time the Answer rolls around, she realizes what it's like to lose someone she loved, and her irrationality with seeing them again is something that resembles how her mother felt. She realized that after her fathers death, her mother was suffering from it alone, and tried to fill that space. And yeah I love Fuuka's arc cause its subtle, she was held to such high standards by her parents that shes scared of failure, but your character encouraging her made her keep with cooking enough to feel confident in what she loves doing.
The seaming of nyx is the best victory laps in a video game ever. The part where all you party members give you their friendship power with burn my dread in the background feels so good. Especially when you also hear shinji( even if he wasnt there for a long while)
Awww, I was hoping for at-least a small mention of the Protagonist's ultimate Persona, Messiah, since it is the one that appears alongside his portrait in the credits. I know Orpheus Telos is the game breaking completion reward but, cmon, Messiah deserves some love.
On top of that, mentioning how each character's Persona has a story behind it that mirrors the story of the characters that use them would be nice too. For example, Akihiko and Shinji both shared a half of the Dioscuryi, AKA Gemini, The Twins, and Castor And Pollux. Shinji, funnily enough, got the half ot theduo that was mortal, while Akihiko got the immortal brother. It's nice foreshadowing in reagrds to each of their fates. For a more obvious example, Koromaru getting Cerberus fits because both characters dedicated their lives to gaurding and protecting something sacred to them. On top of that, both of them are good bois, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
Yukari's arc is one of the most affecting. She learns that her origins (in the form of her father) were actually dark and reprehensible, and struggles with the whole question of, "how do I keep living when I know I came from this?" The way she is able to find her own answer to that question, but then learns that she came from grace all along and has nothing she needs to seek forgiveness for... it's one of the most nuanced, true-to-life journeys
Still watching through it, but in defense of Yuko: it's a story about a slacker discovering her passion for taking care of people. In the beginning, she has no ambition or drive to do anything beyond the bare minimum. As the social link progresses and she interacts with the elementary students more, she realizes how much pride and satisfaction she gets out of coaching people. She ends up dedicating herself to physical therapy studies, which is an intense course load (it's medicine-adjacent, after all) for someone who had previously been slacking off. She even mentions in the epilogue that her grades suck and she needs to do a lot of catching up to get where she wants to go, but she's making the sacrifices she needs to make on the way to realizing her goals. It's a great message for young people who still don't know who they are and who have just been coasting through life.
Persona 3's ending is the only video game ending that has made me cry in front of others. You know how sad things are usually less likely to make you cry in front of others because of your pride? This game broke that for me. I remember being in a 3-way discord call with my friends when finishing this game and had to wipe my eyes every 5 seconds. Really shows how powerful that ending is.
Personally, I have no problem crying in front of others, but I do find it difficult to cry in general. There are a few things that can make me cry though...
Bro my game literally crashed at the end checking the sanctuary girl social link epilogue in march 💀💀💀 Had to watch the ending on youtube. I'd say Mother 3 is the only ending that made me cry man's tears for real.
Hey everyone! I've just uploaded a Persona 4 Analysis in the same style as this video. So if you enjoyed this one, I suggest you take a look at the brand new video. ua-cam.com/video/CujlchNaHNc/v-deo.html&ab_channel=Nam12399
I do wish strega got a bit more story, I think they are proberly the most forgettable antagonists in the series, I feel as if they only existed to kill off a main character to make the game more dark
Absolutely fantastic video, Nam. This game was life changing for me at the time it came out. I was a sheltered teen entering adulthood and this game gave me the motivation to step outside my shell and experience greater things in life. I haven't played it in about 13 years now, but watching this took me back to those days. It's crazy how much a video game can influence a person and I owe so much to Persona 3.
I'm not ashamed to say that my love for Persona came from Persona 5 and Royal but I am really wanting to go through all the previous games and keep up with the series! This analysis is super useful and really helpful for someone like me who is new compared to other fans but really wants to climb to the top!~
Hmm. I wonder if it was a deliberate decision on Atlus' part to not give the male party members social links because they developed so much during the main story, at least compared to the women. I've always felt that since Mitsuru's S.Link dovetails with the death of her father and the Kyoto trip, that her full character arc is the two taken together; but with Akihiko, since he has a complete arc in the main story, giving him a social link wouldn't really add much. I suppose Shinji could've used one to flesh out his character, but somehow I think it would be even more devastating to permanently lose a party member _and_ a social link on October 4th. Also, while I really like Akihiko's second awakening and the general idea of some transformations being plot-triggered, we run into a problem of diminishing returns when _every_ party member follows this route. The ladies' really should've been at the end of their social links like in P4/5 with the possible exception of Yukari (since, as you noted, fuck-all happens in her S.Link). But yeah, plot-triggered second awakenings should make a comeback in P6 in beyond, so we stop running into this problem of characters dropping off after they're introduced and you complete their S.Link in the first half of the game.
I absolutely agree. I think persona 4 suffers with character moments in the plot the most. Their introduced and the first half of their character arcs are accepting their flaws as people and the social links are supposed to be the other half. The characters better themselves with the help of Narukami. I really like the idea of that but it does have the problem that you mentioned where the character arcs can be completed pretty early on if you chose to. I think the idea was that you are supposed to max out the party members in the later half of the game, but due to the way the game is designed, players can easily not do that. I still like the way it’s handled in 4 but Persona 5 definitely improves on that imo.
This is a nice retrospective on P3. That ending still gets me to tear up. I’m surprised you didn’t talk more about the velvet room’s form in this game and how it related to the final battle with Nyx because that was a really neat detail. It really is one of the best PlayStation 2 RPGs.
I prefer how most party members in persona 3 didn't have social links when we look at how the links have been handled in future games with party members they either have to be small stories or when they should have a large effect on the character you don't see that once you leave the social link but without those two parts of the game coming into conflict we are able to have great moments like akihiko's awakening or junpeis arc . Also yeah most atlus additions are awful, i cant remember if it was added in fes or p3p but there is the shinji coma survival which i assume you agree that one is terrible too.
It was P3P that added the Shinji coma in the Female route and it's an addition that I feel ruins it as much as the Chidori situation that I talked about in the video. The later Persona games, while having social links with party members, does suffer with the character's growth in the main plot in particular since it has to be written in a way that doesn't include social link development, in case people didn't do them. If the situation was handled more like, let's say Aigis, where she has her own character arc in the game's plot, but the social link gives extra context and strengthens the story that has already been told. Then that would be perfect. But, if we take Persona 4 for example. We have the party members go through their mini-arcs of them accepting their own flaws, and then the social links are supposed to be the other half of their character development where they grow past their flaws and better themselves. So it has the problem that you mentioned where the social links for the party members don't have much impact on the plot. So I do agree with what you say but personally I didn't find it too distracting. I think that the social links do a good enough job at giving the characters their primary motivations. I do wish we had more like Aigis though.
It also makes sense with its name: "Social Link" or "Commu Link" is a relationship you make with the people inside the community, not just the people in your team. While the party members are the most important people in your journey, having several social links connected to them feels limited. It means the protagonist only spends time with his small circle of friends rather than befriending people all around town.
@@manat31790 Yeah that's why I liked 3's S links so much. You got a lot more people to learn about and interact with than just your team. We already have some main story S links, I don't think every party member needs one but that's just me I guess.
Say what you may, but that animation of the protagonist pointing a gun to their heads and the shatter effetct of the shot is SUCH A COOL WAY OF SUMMONING A CREATURE. It's creative, it's COOL, it's IMPACTFUL!!! I LOVE THAT
4 years late, but strega not having motivation is the point isnt it. They detach themselves from everything which contrasts with the main characters. The main characters choose to not live in ignorant bliss but rather to face death. When you choose to kill ryoji and they lose their memories, they live more like strega do just not taking the future seriously. Thats what makes it the bad ending. Goes along with the whole apathy thing too.
Persona 3 changed my life. Or, at least my relationship to video games. I'd never before played a game where I cared so much about the characters, felt so many things... it made me a lifelong fan of Persona and will always be an important game to me even if it's been surpassed technically.
I finished playing Persona 3 last month, and man did I enjoyed it. I guess my favorite social link would be Yukari, since I would do the same things she did. Overall, the game is awesome, I’m glad I got into the Persona series through this one, since it talks about something as serious as accepting death and doesn’t make it complicated. Nice video dude, I loved every second of it.
I did like 5 of his links on the first playthrough only to try to get all links but I knew I couldn't, go I never did it again, and now I'm playing portables femc route and shinji was like the third one I maxed cuz he deserves the love.
Also nozomi deserves that guy beating him up, he's a fat ass glutton with nothing to live for. He's also such a prick if you get wrong answers kn food and is so damn ugly physically and personality wise.
Persona 3 will always hold a special place in my heart, especially because it's what got me into shin megami tensei games and jrpgs in general. I remember getting a modchip for our ps2 which gaves us the opportunity to download roms and paste them onto blank dvd-rs. It just so happens that my brother managed to find persona 3 back in 2007 and atlus was releasing p3fes, p4 and p3p in a short period of time, so persona was pretty much my life back in the day.
That tiny little "oof" at 1:02:35 while 9999 damage pops up, and then just a casual "woah, ah" while he dies cracks me up. It's like "oh well, that's a lot of damage, meh". Maybe it's just his version of Minato's "I don't care", and it does make sense considering what happens next.
Persona 3 is my favorite Persona! FES stands for Festival I believe? I don't remember why they did that (like how P4 did Golden and P5 did Royal). P3P was such a fun bonus game and I loved being able to be a female protag and romancing the boys
Actually, the act of pointing the gun on your head and pull the trigger in order to summon the persona is because in that way you would be in a near death experience, by forth a persona can be drawn out. There was a scene where Mitsuru and her father were in grave danger and she could summon her persona without the Ivoker. It's because of the same reason. If I remember correctly, a member of SEES had mentioned it in persona Q or Q2 Also P3 was the first SMT game i played, and tbh, it was easy even on the highest difficulty because it has a smooth learning curve for new players. P4 on the other hand had a merciless early game with that frickin chariot piece of crap (I played hard mode btw). And then they neff it to baby play in P4G. Finally, P5 is a brain dead game with too many good tactics for your team to beat the enemies, while they only know to attack you.
I think that the suicidal way to summon a Persona is inspired in the believing of "A human will reveal it's true self when it's about to die", and because no one has really acepted death, or better sayed, no one wants to really die or see themselves diying, they need to simulate death. Maybe that is why Tatsuya doesn't need an Evoker, he already accepted his death in every way not caring for the future, only the present
@@bautistaparrondo438 Wait, you mentioned Tatsuya in which game anyway? Is Tatsuya in P2, if so P2 wasn't use gun, was they? If in P3 then the closest one I can think of was Takaya from Strega. Well in his case, he's somewhat special. Remember he used to be an experimenter at the time the Kijiro's group investergate in Shadow. He also mention how his Persona was forced out instead of awaken. I dunno, Atlus never give the straight answer to it, but rather through some very short dialogue between characters scattered throughout many games.
Oh yes, I forgot his name. But yes, they forced out the Persona's of the other members of Strega, but Jin and Chidori use an Evoker to summon it, quite strange anyways
@@bautistaparrondo438 Tatsuya and the rest of the p1 and p2 casts don't need evokers because they got their personas from philemon, who is igor's boss and creator.
This explanation is kind of weird imo because the characters know that it's not a real gun. Like, what IS the Evoker? Is it just a toy gun? If so, then even if it's shaped like a real gun, anyone would realize nothing will happen, thus there's no life-threatening situation in using it. This would be like saying shooting an empty Nerf to your head is "life threatening". And even then, would the Evoker even be needed to simulate a life-threatening situation when fighting a shadow is already one? So actual monsters that kill people are not life-risking, but a fake gun is? The symbolism is cool and I appreciate it but this in-world explanation just seems... weird?
I finished ps3 fes twice and I never knew you can bring Chidori back to life. Not even the UA-camrs I know who played the game never brought this up once. That's strange to me. Thanks for this analysis, my guy. Subb.
Since you mentioned you enjoyed P4 better, will you be doing a video on the rest of the persona games? Like P4 Golden and P5 Royal? I loved this video and would like to see you do this same kind of detailed analysis on those two. Either way, keep up the amazing work
Absolutely! I have a lot to say about those games as well. Persona 4 will be the project I work on after I finish the one I'm writing currently (It's taking longer than expected because it's going to be a really long video as well) so It won't take a super long time to get to Persona 4 Golden, but it'll still take some time before that one comes out.
@@NamsCompendium To extend on op's question, will you review other SMT games aside from the persona series? Anyway, i really liked this video so keep this up!
@@funninoriginal6054 I'd love to talk about more Megaten games in the future for sure! I know I would like to make videos on Nocturne and the DDS duology for sure. Raidou might happen if I end up having enough to say about the two games once I sit down and actually finish them. The 3ds games might happen, it just depends on the recording method since I don't own a 3ds capture card. I know Citra exists, but I just need to make sure that everything will run well when recording at the same time. But yes, I will make videos on other Megaten games at some point!
I haven't played P4 yet. I'm really pacing out my SMT games because it is the only series that truly scratches my gaming itch. The darkness, aesthetic, story, music, philosophy and creativity are all unrivaled imo. I'm playing through Persona 2 EP right now. Its a bit of a slog but totally worth a play so far.
My first persona was persona 2 for the ps1 but the diffrent direction with p3 as in social links, calender timed dates, a real traditional turnbased jrpg really made the serie into what it is. Persona 3-5 (which btw had a diffrent development team) is def on their own in the Persona serie and should be started with- not persona 1 or 2. Ofc you will learn some about Philemon the butterfly spirit in Persona 2- which persona games refers to (igor is his agent for ex) and butterflies are savepoints in persona 4 and a butterfly calls out to the hero in persona 5 in other words these blue butterflies are a sign of philemons work and helping the protagonist.
quezcatol part of me has wanted to have Philemon as a secret boss again just as a nod to Persona 1 & Persona 2. I do think that those old games are still worth looking at, but there’s a reason why Persona 3 onwards is more known.
@@NamsCompendium In Carl Jungs (creator of persona theory) book Philemon is a good spirit and I would love to know more about him in a future persona title atleast.
I think Yukari’s is possibly good because one would see more of her character in Persona 3 Portable, in the FEMC’s route. That, and a possible thing is Junpei could’ve been hitting on her or something of the sort. So naturally it may be hard for one to not shut one out in every chance that they get. Yukari has a better character than she’s given credit for, we’re just only introduced to a part of it is how I perceive it.
Fantastic analysis! You really nailed the criticisms I had with the game without being overly critical or disregarding the positive elements. I'm excited to see another Persona 4 or 5 analysis of this caliber! Either way, you've earned yourself another subscriber. You've clearly got talent!
The battle system is inherently flawed, but once you've learned how the AI operates it becomes much easier to control and you can make it through the game with very few mistakes on the AI's part. There are some beginner tutorials made by a guy named Shura and he explains all of the mechanics including some things that may not be so clear.
Persona 3 is the reason why I got so hooked to the SMT games, I've played all the current Persona games and it was a fantastic ride! I also heard that atlus was having a rough time when making this game which is the main reason why it's an ALMOST perfect game, out of all the Persona games this one is my favourite, I love everything about it except the tiring system which was fixed in P4 and P5, I love the whole self-sacrifice thingy. Persona 4's story is like Jojo DiU and I like it but not as much as P3, the story felt okay for me but the characters, they were solid, Kanji is my fav. And then there's P5, I liked the story and the characters, Morgana really loves telling Ren to go to sleep and it was bloody annoying, good thing it's not like that in P5R.. I also love the first two Persona especially the 2nd one, I really like Maya. After playing all the Persona games including the dancing ones and the two PQ games in 3ds I always want more so I played the other SMT.. I played SMT Devil survivor overclocked first and it was BLOODY fantastic.. It went on and on and on, Devil summoner, SMT IV, Apocalypse, Strange Journey, nocturne, digital devil story, SMT NINE, even the If one.. Out of all the SMT I've played, Devil Survivor and Nocturne are my favourites.
It is interesting, Persona 5 is how I got into the series and I really, really liked it, so much so that I immediately went to play Persona 3 Portable. In my opinion, that version of the game IS great, and is currently my 2nd favorite game of all time behind Suikoden II; its characters are fantastic, the plot is both relevant and compelling, and the gameplay mechanics are greatly improved from the earlier versions while still retaining a lot of the difficulty on its hardest settings. Then I went to play Persona 4 and want greatly disappointed for several reasons; the story is a mystery with no clues, the themes essentially try to hammer the same message home again and again, and the gameplay (besides the first 2 dungeon bosses) is really easy, regardless of difficulty. Not to mention I found the characters to have the same consistency problem that exists in 5, although the good characters really are great (Kanji, for example).
I feel the same, after finishing P3 I started playing P4 excepting something amazing judging by its popularity and the praise it got, only to be dissapointed. It's inferior to P3 in almost every aspect. The story is lame, just a scooby do-esque adventure that leaves no strong message by the end of it. I first thought Tartarus is bad, then comes P4 dungeons with its very long hallways and awful music. Speaking of which, the music is okay but not as great as P3's music. The way of summonig personas in P3 was badass compared to P4, crushing your arcana card is meh in comparison. The s.links of P4 are bad and have no memorable inpact, Akinari's social link is by far better than all of P4's s.links combined. The characters of P4 are its forte but then again, only few are really good like Kanji and Yousuke, I feel like P3's characters are slightly better.
@@morya9 Probably the biggest reason I dislike Persona 4 is the fact that the game was marketed to me as a mystery, a type of game I really enjoy as someone who likes picking up on small details in an effort to piece together a larger picture. I spent a LOT of time trying to learn as much as I could about Inaba in order to find the murderer...and was incredibly disappointed that none of that information mattered...at all. You finding out the true identity of the killer was nothing more than being given a list of "candidates" and narrowing them down with three "guesses", even when you confront the correct killer, you have no evidence and just happen to be right. Even the good ending does not reward the player for astute observational skills, but instead forces you to jump through lawyer hoops; I KNEW that it was wrong to punish Namatme because I paid very close attention to him in Inaba and believe he was innocent...but because I happened to give the wrong emotional response to my idiot friends (with SIX chances to fail), I was not rewarded for this observation. Yeah, I eventually got the "correct" sequence, but it did not feel rewarding...and for a mystery to not reward the player for attention to detail is something that really makes the other aspects of the game seem much worse, as well.
@@bigtimetimmyjim6486 What personally threw me off was the change in tone. I'm not a fan of campy or stereotypical characters unless they do something with it instead of their personalities ending there. Persona 4 was choke full of said characters. From party members to teachers and random students and passers by. I can honestly say that I had a terrible experience playing the game because, for starters, My game crashed 3 times in the infamous 3 hours intro of Persona 4, got tonal whiplash after playing it right after Persona 3, and then got the killers identity spoiled to me, which made finishing the game more of a chore because you honestly don't get reason to suspect he's the "killer", I honestly checked Every time I could and couldn't see him as the killer. One thing I'm happy for is that I played Vanilla P4 instead of Golden. I would have totally given up midway on Golden if it was right after P3. Better game mechanics don't make up for a bad presentation or story for me.
Davned FES is better imo cuz portable makes the game too ez and bringing back shinjiro fucks with P3s themes and it’s like P4 mechanics don’t work with P3 I say FES is the superior product imo
Even though P3 is my favorite game in the series, I can definitely see why someone wouldn’t think it was great, or even why someone wouldn’t think it’s good at all. For example, I think not being able to select Skills for personas and not being able to control party members makes the game more challenging and more fun for me.
Man, what the hell, I've never played this game before and I didn't know anything about it before watching this and it made me cry 😭 Great vid! Loved it!
If this ever gets a PC port I'm going to buy it so fucking hard. Also, I've binge watched all of your videos this weekend and man...the pure love and devotion you have for these games really shines through. I've never played P3 (tho it was my introduction to the series via a walkthrough) and I really like the darker tone it has compared to the newer titles. And that fucking ending...man...there's just no words that can express how it made me feel. This series is special to me because of its social aspect and they've helped me growing up more than anything or anyone in my life. P4 was a lifechanging experience for me and after this video I feel like P3 too has become part of that whole thing. Amazing content and I can only hope you won't stop making these.
Great video. I'm personally of the opinion that if they remade P3 with some of the enhanced gameplay elements of 4 and 5, fixed the pacing in the story and some of the social links, made Strega actual characters with more impact, gave Minato social links with the guys of SEES without having to play as FemC, and tweaked Tartarus to be a bit more interesting, and less unforgiving, maybe add some stuff to break up the monotony of it a bit, I honestly think it would be the best game in the series, if not one of the best games of all time. I think it has a very solid base, with an amazing soundtrack, interesting (if occasionally a little misused) battle mechanics, a great cast of characters, and an ending that hits like a brick shithouse of emotion, it's just held back by some things I think they could easily fix with a remake. I also just want to see Elizabeth pour millions of yen into a fountain in HD.
Great review, but I must say, in regards to social links: most of time, Minato is too passive but people are too grateful to him. You barely say or do things to actively help them and, yeah, I get that being there is a great help too, but the other characters seem to see Minato as a god of friendship or something. In Personas 4 and 5, the MC is much more active, they DO things for people, so I'm glad they changed that aspect between games. I liked Moon social link, because it's batshit insane. You start talking about things, like food or Nozomi being resentful of his brother, due to society comparing them nonstop (according to him), then there is a fucking cult. Also, he does change in that he learns to accept his brother, despite what people say to him, and that he shouldn't evaluate himself according to others, he should be himself, so he stops eating to drow his insecurities and self-loathe with food to focus on it as a profession and love. He shows himself to be worse than you initally think, but I don't think he gets WORSE. He still is an asshole, though. Also, I don't agree with the mechanic assessment, that not controlling your party and having to spend a lot of time on fusion to get the skills. People would be doing the fusion in the way they want, me included, so the mechanic just gets in the way, it's boring as all shits to me. And I goddamn hate not controlling the party, even if they are smarter. There being both is just quality of life. Of course, these are just my opinion and people see it differently, so I am not attacking anyone who see things differently from me.
By the time Atlus made Persona 3, they were on the edge of broke. The P3 project only got limited budget and requested to be finish in 2 years. Not to forget this whole new project was a huge change of direction from SMT, P1 and P2. P3 is certainly no way near perfect, but it gives its best and managed to form the very shape of later Persona games as we knew today.
Wait it's that true? But I can sense the rush in the design because for example Yukari hair isn't consistent between animated scene and in game design.
@@abdulsoleh7131 It is. Well maybe not on the edge of broke but they were in a very difficult time. SMT3 and DDS got very good reception but sales were poor (270k and 150k copies sales, way below their expectation), and even cauesd quite a employee cuts in Atlus. Not just that, P4 alse released just 2 years after P3, and as you can see they use most of shadow models from P3 (budget and schedule reason). But I think by the time they made P4, Atlus was pretty sure they were on the right track
@@hikari2hikari2 so basically Makoto sacrifice doesn't only safe the humanity from Nyx, but also safe atlus from bankruptcy.
Yo, is that real?! I just know about this info ever since I played the game ages ago! To think that P3 would be the make-or-break title of Atlus is wholesome
@@hemera5518 You can check the sales record over the titles before P3. Atlus was one of those minor companies walk on ice, where any wrong step could be fatal till they finally a part of SEGA in 2016.
Due to final boss theme being named "Battle for Everyone's Souls", in my headcanon FES stands for For Everyone's Souls. You can't change my mind.
That is such an interesting take I wish it was true (since u may know it’s short for festival)
FUCK IT, NEW CANON
I doubt it.
I always thought it was for festival.
Fuck it that's canon now
@@superl8296 I always thought it was for everyone's souls !!!! ITS FUCKING FESTIVAL?! WHY FESTIVAL?!?! NOOOOOOO YOU HAVE RUINED EVERYTHINGGGGGGG
"The only reason I have to live is to protect you"
"Alright cool story bro" *Literally fucking dies*
She found a meaning of her live and literally failed 2 seconds after it XDDD
I'm pretty sure all things considered that she knew on some level that he was dying
@@kasunex1772 Yeah, the way she was talking, she definitely knew what was happening and just really didn't want to believe it.
IT GOT ME SOBBING EVEN THO IVE SEEN THIS SCENE SO MANY TIMES
@@samwalters6170 also I think she was trying to comfort the guy
I finished Akinari's social link on the very last day possible before the Nyx fight so when he popped back up with the other social links it actually made me cry a little given the message of the social link and the ending of the game.
Akinari is my favourite social link for sure. It's fitting that it was the last one you did before ending the game.
What route did you use? The one I did had him get finished much earlier.
I make sure to do his social link in every playthrough I do in P3. It's just really good and sad.
And the wrong thing about it, she's still not in persona 4 area ultimax.
Bro me toooooooo, I was so happy when I realized that I actually could play the last day and finished his social link 🥺🥺🥺
FES is short for Festival. Pretty ironic given the game in question.
Huh. I'm honestly not even surprised given Atlus's strange naming convention over the years. Thanks for the info!
Nam12399 yeah, they did the same thing with Persona 4 Golden. The FES stand for festival, as the game was released in April, a month that features several parades and festivals in Japan. Likewise, Persona 4 Golden is named after "Golden Week", which is a week during which many holidays occur in Japan, from late April to early may. P4G wasn't released in that golden week, but the naming convention of It being named after a Japanese holiday is still valid.
Oh fudge, I thought it meant Foreign Exchange Student
Oh I thought it was For Everyone’s Soul
Nah, og's know it stands for "fucking even sexier" edition.
Hearing akihiko say “did ya see that shinji?” and hearing shinjiro’s voice at the final boss made me tearing up like a bitch
WAIT WHAT I HAVE TO SEE THIS
SPOILER WARNING
FINALLY! Someone who actually analyzes The Answer!
YOOOO. It's my boy.
Oh hey it’s Ozi
Who knew I’d see you here
Lot of people did that. And, they all agreed (i agreed too) IT SUCKS
This video was pretty good. I just wish you at least mentioned Koromaru. He doesn't have a social link or really much for the story but he's a good boi and deserves at least a mention lol
Koromaru is the best boi and I love him dearly. I just didn't really have anything interesting to say about him. Plus I didn't really use him too much in my party.
Femc has a social link with Korumaru if you're interested.
@@Anna-md5nc Please don't tell me that it also includes a romance option... does it.
@@SantosAl it doesn't
@@danebirbhaha7520 Thank god, Ken was bad enough I don't know what I would have done if koromarus innocence was tainted.
Honestly Yukari's social link is fine to me. It's sort of a representation of the fact that people don't need to have an intricate social relationship to be good friends. Sometimes, shooting the shit with your friends is all you really need to become closer.
I don't really get people's problems with Yukari's SL. I mean, it fits her character like a glove. As you said, not every SL has to be "here is this super deep problem I have which I will fix by the end of the SL". Considering the situation both were in, simply hanging out and talking about shit would be more than enough to become closer
Here is the thing there already is the system where they or you request to just hang out with each other and gain points and making these hang outs almost indistinguishable as the main link makes her link kinda boring to go through where the point of social links is to learn and grow a strong bond with them Which makes it more impactful for me when they rank up after going through something important with them or learning more about them.
Hey man, I don't know what you're talking about with the Maiko s.link. I mean, its not like atlus would let you do anything weird with a grade schooler while you yourself are playing as a high school kid. Anyway, I'm gonna go play Femc in P3P, I'm almost finished with Ken's social link, I wonder where it will go?
@@demifiendreal9101 r/whooosh
@@julianrobertson1869 r/itswooooshwith4os
(ps its a fucking joke)
@Mr. Richard Smoker She gives you a promise ring, it's supposed to be cute cause she's just a kid and doesn't really know what marriage is, don't know why y'all are making it weird
Yet another reason why the P3 FemC was a mistake.
@@lindthechaoticheretic8708 Hey man don't go blaming FemC for Atlus's bullshit.
Meanwhile, Yu is off impregnating an entire town and solving murder mysteries....
Given it takes him 6 hours to talk to one person, eat a beef bowl, or do another mundane task, he has so much free time that I began to suspect that he WAS the villain. :P
Nah that virgin is lame. Now Chad Kanji on the other hand 👌
@@bigtimetimmyjim6486 I mean, Yu and Adachi are the same voice actor so...
@@AshWindheart Accomplice ending canon :o
@@nickbarlas5544 yu is fucking great wym
Timestamps for anyone looking to skip to certain sections :)
0:00 Introduction
1:31 Story Opening
4:58 Combat & Tartarus
14:44 Social Links
40:40 Soundtrack
41:11 SEES Member Analysis
54:52 Plot & Theme Analysis
1:08:40 Conclusion
P3 Review: “Almost Great” The Answer Review: “Ruining Something Great” *Hmmmmmmmmm*
MudKevin The title for the answer is in reference to the ending of the journey, which I thought was great. I think the game as a whole is shy from being great, but not the ending which I think is top notch.
Nam12399 I figured as much. It’s just kind of funny out of context. I enjoyed the reviews though!
Nam12399 - damn, I thought the Answer really improved on the ending of P3 (story wise). It showed how the cast actually would have reacted to losing their best friend, and kind of the glue that kept the group together.
Fatalityfun the problem with the Answer is that Aigis and Yukari are the only ones with any major arcs of any kind. While I think both characters were handled very well for the most part, the handling for the other characters kind of sucks, especially for Ken.
@@Mojo1356 yeah it also makes it seem like they were the only ones really close to the MC
30:38 "he's basically the first representation of a french weaboo"
sir i think you mean a-
*OUI-ABOO*
Oui-about
Hey, french weaboo here
I approve that joke
Props to you, my guy. I'm chuckling nonstop.
😂😂🤧
This deserves all the likes
No matter P3, P4 or P5, there's always that one reminder that never goes away till now
Tanaka home shopping!
He's some kinda god, I'm sure, with how he never changes
Here comes Tanakaaaaaa
You know, there are a lot of unrelated scenes that happen in social links in this game. But I kinda love that. Real life is having a good time with your friends, not a snappy narrative, you know?
This guy gets it!
For real. The experiences the games have are very subjective, so you can't really be objective about everything in it. I, for example, loved Shinji as a character because he was the strongest when introduced and had a funny characteristic of being a good cooker with his rough looks. His death really bummed me out because he was my favorite and I cried manly years when I heard his voice at the end. And that's just one difference to this review.
the characters have lives OUTSIDE of the mc and natural evolution that's not tied to the social links, and that's fantastic.
Persona 5 was REALLY helpful for me in the beginning days of the lockdown. My bubble is only like 4 people now so having a bunch of virtual friends to interact with was a godsend! I suppose I could buy a newer system so I could do online co-op play, but the characters of any Persona game all feel real enough to me. What an excellent series. And same with the main series SMT and the other spinoffs. It is really one of the only series I can truly resonate with, rpg or otherwise.
Never played this game, always hear about it from my friend, but holy crap that was the fastest hour of my life, I honestly forgot it was a video game and not a really well written anime or movie. Then BOOM I realized you can make your own path, very very nice review. Best one. Keep them coming I love you content
26:10 There's actually a very fun little tidbit about Innocent Sin Online, in that it's a Localization-exclusive reference. In the original Japanese version it was a reference to Megami Tensei and Megami Tensei II, in that it was named Devil Busters Online(an online version of a game that holds a lot of importance in MTII). Instead of Tatsuya and Maya, they take on the names N-Jima and Y-ko, shortenings of the names of the main characters of MTI. Though, seeing as they referenced the Persona 2 game that wasn't even translated at the time of release, I have to question why Atlus even bothered to change it.
That's actually super interesting. I had no idea that they changed it for the international version. It could've just been a nod to hardcore fans who did do their research about the rest of the Megaten series after Atlus started to release their PS2 games in the west.
@@NamsCompendium Atlus does actually do it again in Persona 4 for that very reason, changing a reference to a famous Japanese detective into a reference to detective Raidou Kuzunoha, from Devil Summoner. Back in the PS2 days Atlus loved tying their games together just for the fun of it, and throwing the hardcore fans a bone here and there was something they did often.
innocent sin wasnt translated in the west at the time, but eternal punishment was
so while naming it innocent sin online instead of eternal punishment online was a weird call, naming the characters tatsuya and maya was an easter egg fans of the franchise up until that point still couldve picked up on
@@JAMSP00N Right, I know that Eternal Punishment was localized at the time. My question is why they'd switch from one non-localized game to reference to another non-localized game. I understand wanting fans to feel rewarded for keeping up with the series, but Devil Busters Online would be an even better choice in that regard too. Innocent Sin Online just creates a confusion on if the events of Persona 2 happened in 3-5, while Devil Busters Online exhibits that this video game series the main character of the very first game made still exists and so he still exists too. Very different messages, you know?
@@camerons241 thats what trish's who's who is for
I always say persona 3 is my favorite persona game and I always get told eww it’s so old and your so emo but they never realized what the true meaning of the game is, that everyone will die at one point, doesn’t mean you have to dread death, it means you have to make the most of it with what and who you have and enjoy your time with your current loved ones, every time I watch the ending I can’t stop crying because of how perfect and emotional it is
They says 3 is old school? I found it pretty modern actually. Now, the first three games 1, 2 IS, 2 EP, are definitely old school! They are quite the painful playthrough until you just give in to the complete lack of modern quality of life additions. Dungeon crawling is a slow go because you get 10 steps between battles. You have to constantly move the camera so you can see everything in dungeons. Menus are like a labyrinth to do any task. The demon fusion system is like unlocking a safe. But, it is so worth playing them because they are great games for their time!
@@Bradley_Lute true
I wanna ask something is the protagonist dead? I played p3 back then when i was 9 or so, i dont really understand english that time but i played it coz my big brother bought the game so i just play it but i kinda forgot what the ending is like and kinda curious, but i dont wanna play the game again coz i fucking hate tartarus and refuse to climb all 500 floor again, so can someone simply tell me what happen to minato after? Thanks:D
@@Laevatei1nn for me the story was confusing by the end but yes he is in fact dead
@@marrowyoutube but what with the aigis scene? Was that just imagination or
The fact that minato has his phone background as a girl in a game saying I love you is just hilarious
most teenage online relationships be like
I just saw that seen at the end of Reload a couple hours ago, I was already teary eyed at that point... and I laughed. I laughed and I cried. I love that fucking game.
I actually like Mamoru's story. He had to give up his dream and go to work to feed his family, that's his fate, accepted it or not(which he did), life goes on. Fate was one of the main themes of P3, so I don't have any problem with that. Besides protagonist was no magician that can fix everything in people's life, just like there's nothing he can do to Maiko's parents broke, nor Akninari's gonna die. There's no stole your heart stuff in life. It was all those people and their stories protagonist came across shaped him and made him a better person.
I was so confused when Chidori suddenly came back to life. I accidentally picked all of the dialogue options to trigger that scene because I wanted to be a bro to Junpei and then that scene happened and I was like "Wait, what? How?" And then a little later, I looked it up and discovered that the scene was an optional "What-If" scenario that wasn't in the original.
I never knew about this.
It's questionably canon thanks to ultimax because junpei has chidoris necklace and how he mentions and dreams of her in such a positive way
I was very upset about that when I learned that it wasn't canon. Junpei and Chidori deserved the good things, but I know that the themes of the game wouldn't let her survive to begin with. Oh well.
@@micanikko It's canon though
P4Arena confirms that
The logic is that chidori can give life energy to things like flowers. The doctor gave her these flowers as a last tribute and they gave her the life energy back
I both have my pros and cons with chidori's resurrection. I definitely agree with you in the sense that Chidori coming back to life panders too much towards fanservice and can definitely mitigate the impact of loss (trust me, I've seen too many comic book character revivals to count). However, as someone who had no idea her arc was altered in fes and thought that her revival was scripted from the beginning, it came as a shocking yet pleasant surprise when I saw that she was alive. I had next to no knowledge of the story's ending when I finished fes 2 months ago, and I can only say that, in my experience of playing the game, the wills and the desires of the protagonist's friends are what gave me the strength and determination to finish strong (a sentiment I see universally shared among players during the final month). And, keeping in mind that the game leaves you with the idea that you will hopelessly lose, I only felt that Chidori's revival gave me, and junpei as well, even more of a drive to win such an impossible battle since we had to defeat Nyx to keep Chidori safe and sound; Junpei still has something to fight for. Admittedly, this does change how junpei's arc ties back to the game's main theme as his motive in the end changes from "fighting for chidori's death and her memory" to "fighting to keep Chidori alive," which is certainly weaker imo. Weaker as it may be, I'm sure I and many other fans would definitely still take this route because it still adds upon the message of the game in the sense that life is worth living to protect the lives of loved ones, not entirely unlike fuuka's desire to protect natsuki in the end. Plus, come on, can anyone blame me for feeling so damn happy for Junpei in the end? It was well acted on the va's part, and it, personally, really got me pumped and primed to take out Nyx and secure Junpei's happiness. Sure, it's still very respectable and understandable that people don't like this creative decision, but it certainly isn't the worst thing that some people make it out to be.
Goddammit, I keep typing out novels on this platorm.
Yeah maybe try using enter coz i kept getting lost while reading this xD
Yeah no, it's absolutely bullshit that she lives
Fun fact: The male protagonist, Pharos, Ryoji, Nyx, Mochizuki and most of the extras are all voiced by Yuri Lowenthal. He also voiced Yosuke in P4.
I feel like you're undercutting Yukari's development quite a bit here. Agreeably, it's one of the weaker arcs, but I think you forgot to mention how the true tape revealed how Yukari's father, rather than taking full blame for the experiment, was *only* trying to stop the experiment from going through. Although the depth and length of his involvement in the incident is left somewhat ambiguous in the end, the game is communicating that his role is *entirely* flip-flopped from being "the proprietor of the story's conflict" to "the only one who did his best to stop the fall from coming." You can check the scene of Yukari's resolution and compare it to ikutsuki's doctored tape to really see how yukari didn't forgive her father, since she realizes that he didn't even do anything wrong in the first place (this is understandably easy to miss as this development happens wayyyyyy near the end of the game; I missed it too and had to check back since I was a little confused). I posit instead that Yukari's resolution stems from her desire to carry on with her life since that is what her father desired and comes to this revelation not by forgiveness but by receiving and reciprocating newfound love for her father, love that she never knew he had for her until she watched the tape (she is the lovers arcana after all). I intend no offense when I say this, but for the purposes of discussion and critique, it seems to me that you were pretty biased against Yukari and didn't take much interest in her arc (which I get of course, I thought she was kinda bitchy too).
I'm honestly a bit confused with how he tackles Yukari and her father. As far as I remember, it wasn't anything like resentment-turned-forgiveness, but vaguely about wavering conviction?
I mean, she joined SEES with the conviction to find out what happened to her father after reading his letter. After Yakushima, she became confused rather than resentful, questioning him and her motivations now that it's apparently revealed the man she loved and believed in caused everything they're fighting. But, yeah, she continues on and becomes more resolute when it's revealed her father loved her and she wasn't wrong for believing in him back then. I didn't get her resolution all that well before, but yours put it aptly: his message was for her to live well and be strong, and she takes this into heart as she continues to fight and get rid of the Dark Hour with renewed conviction that stems from her faith and love in her father, her desire to no longer run away, as well as her desire to continue what her father had done to stop the Shadows.
@@kres6009 Agreed
Yeah, I've noticed this channel has some L takes
@@y2m3e.45 whats an L take? Genuine question
@@murilopires4923a bad opinion
The ending of this game made me cry like a baby
Same it’s real sad lol
I stopped caring by the end
@@DezuFuck fuck off
@@557deadpool lol, mad cuz guy don't like anime game
@@chamclamtv not mad but ok
I ended Persona 3 Fes 1 mounth ago, and i can say this game is totaly playable today as in 2007.
I was playing in the wrong order persona 5 then 4 golden and then 3 fes but it feels like the gameplay is getting better not worse I thought each game should be an upgrade to the one before it yet what happened to the split up mechanic I love that mechanic
@@mrcat4508 i hate accidentally changed to a different persona then i cant change it back in the same turn
@@Laevatei1nn I just like the split up mechanic that's really it
@@Laevatei1nn it's called "don't fuck up"
@@557deadpool Based
Permission Tree: "Yeah, go ahead."
i know everyone makes door-kun jokes but goddamn that ending is always a hard hitter
Aegis: *weeping, sniffling, truly emotional monologue to the one she loves
Junpei: HEH-AY
In Japan, it's generally seen as an admirable thing if adults/teenagers are friends with children. This is contrasted to our Western view, wherein we would usually accuse such adults/teenagers as having ulterior motives.
@Mr. Richard Smoker Are you Japanese?
@@lucifermorningstar7983 are you? Where the fuck did you read that bs?
@@flipdip885 It's not bs. It was mentioned in a video about differences between Western/Japanese culture. Made by JAPANESE people.
@@lucifermorningstar7983 What area did they live in? What might be acceptable in certain places of Japan may not be in others
@@lucifermorningstar7983 if you'd actually lived in japan you'd know that the police will suspect you instantly. Luring them to the playground with candy isnt being "friendly" to kids. Don't try and warp asian culture based on a video you've misinterpreted
Honestly I’m surprised that this video doesn’t have a million fucking likes because this was the best review so far that I’ve seen on Persona 3 AND on any Persona game. I can’t wait for the review on the answer.
PS. I almost cried during the ending of a game I’ve never played. But, here’s to hoping they make a remake/port Bc I’ll buy it day one for sure!
I actually have the answer video up on my channel if you want to check it out! Thanks for the kind words. I really want the PS2 Atlus games ported in some big collection because that would be sick.
There is a good Persona 1/2 analysis series called the Persona compendium. The guy is still working on it, but it's really good. I think both of you would quite enjoy it.
@@NamsCompendium I had to @ someone, but here is the first episode ua-cam.com/video/d-4LM5ULncs/v-deo.html. I hope you and Jplayzgamez enjoy it. It's by SnicketySlice. BTW, I really liked your P3 and P4 reviews, can't wait for your P5 review.
Because it's a niche game in a niche series. There's no way for this video to get a million views especially since P5 fans are actual children
Persona 3 inadvertently calls school hell and I love it for that
I was absolutely vibing the whole time. Great video as always. Deep breath is my jam
I am proabably the only person who likes Yukari and her social link. When I played, I read between the lines and interpreted the “fucking around” as a coping mechanism for an immature person who’s been abandoned by the people closest to them in a sense. It hit home for me, as my parents were either busy with work or busy taking care of my younger siblings, we moved around the country a lot during my developmental ages and what Yukari does resonated with how I felt. It’s something you can’t really face, you have to mature to understand how you felt. And, like crumpling a piece of paper, it scars you for life. Granted, it wasn’t the best way to display it; so much so that I think Yoshizawa’s confidant in P5R did it better in terms of her actions and how she deals with her issues. It’s really hard to explain, but the point is that I love Persona because they seem to get the themes down well and they get a lot of them for all walks of life who play.
On the contrary, I just find the "fucking around" as, well, normal teenager things. But even then, her Social Link didn't fail to establish what makes Yukari who she is (and what she could be after Rank 10): independent, lonely, prone to keeping a safe emotional distance from others to more accepting of help and emotional vulnerability. (Ironically, it's that emotional vulnerability that she shows to Minato that explains her distraught feelings in The Answer. I mean, allowing yourself to be vulnerable and pouring your heart out to someone makes them someone incredibly, painstakingly dear to you. The fact that another loved one of her dies just when she's about to move forward with life and patch things up with her past has got to hurt. But I digress.)
I'm even okay that her Social Link ends with just the starting attempt to reconnect with her mother. Progress is progress, and I feel like showing that they do (or don't) reconnect within the Social Link will be too rushed and/or forced. Idk, Yukari did spend her formative years very, very estranged from her mother, and all that pent-up loneliness and anger can't easily disappear. Probably why she likewise resonates with me.
"The power goes out"
Life support people: Aight, Imma head out
They're transmogrified, they're fine during the Dark Hour unless they have *the potential*
Schneeregen _ Oof, imagine being on life support/stuck in a coma while having potential, then the Dark Hour comes on.
Shinji in the FeMC Route: *whistles*
Amazing review, I finished P3P Femc route a few days ago and you covered most of the differences in the guys route that I wanted to see. A few things I interpret differently are:
-Mitsuru's arc was about learning to trust others. Its heavily tied to the main story with her hiding info from SEES, and Yukari consoling her after losing her dad proves to her that she can rely on other people. This is why her social link unlocks and she starts trying to experience the world outside of the Kirijo group.
-Strega was only meant to be an obstacle and never a true antagonist. It was meant to show what the members of SEES could have become. It shows different methods of coping with trauma and powerlessness. Takaya weaponizes his trauma to hate humanity and manipulate his allies, while your team uses theirs to say that theres a way forward if you rely on others. That's why their fights are so easy, it shows how you have strength with people you care about, while they fight solo for 3 of the 4 fights. All of SEES start out apathetic to each other, and Strega with the help of Ikutsuki attempts to sow that apathy.
-Chidori coming back to life was contrived, but I think that a message about bonds saving people who have suicide ideation is way better than her learning not to harm herself and then....killing herself anyway
Definetly, the only points of criticism i really disagreed with from this video were these points (and of course fuuka, although her arc is a bit less drastic it still highlighted her character and personality,), although i still feel like Strega were underwhelming despite what they represented
I still don't know how i feel about yukari, although i don't think she is nearly as bad as he said, but thats more of a gut feeling as i havent taken the time to look back on her arc
@@alfthetruelord If we wanna talk Yukaris arc over P3 and the Answer, it's really strong. I like her, but I know shes nicer in the FEMC route so I cant speak for everyone.
She starts out hating her mom for needing other people after her dad dies, because she cant understand why shed need someone else. Then by the time the Answer rolls around, she realizes what it's like to lose someone she loved, and her irrationality with seeing them again is something that resembles how her mother felt. She realized that after her fathers death, her mother was suffering from it alone, and tried to fill that space.
And yeah I love Fuuka's arc cause its subtle, she was held to such high standards by her parents that shes scared of failure, but your character encouraging her made her keep with cooking enough to feel confident in what she loves doing.
@@kikren I was mostly talking about the arc outside of her S link, as i think its alot stronger than he gave it credit for
man, even hearing Akinari's summarized story still brings a tear to my eye
The seaming of nyx is the best victory laps in a video game ever. The part where all you party members give you their friendship power with burn my dread in the background feels so good. Especially when you also hear shinji( even if he wasnt there for a long while)
Awww, I was hoping for at-least a small mention of the Protagonist's ultimate Persona, Messiah, since it is the one that appears alongside his portrait in the credits. I know Orpheus Telos is the game breaking completion reward but, cmon, Messiah deserves some love.
On top of that, mentioning how each character's Persona has a story behind it that mirrors the story of the characters that use them would be nice too. For example, Akihiko and Shinji both shared a half of the Dioscuryi, AKA Gemini, The Twins, and Castor And Pollux. Shinji, funnily enough, got the half ot theduo that was mortal, while Akihiko got the immortal brother. It's nice foreshadowing in reagrds to each of their fates. For a more obvious example, Koromaru getting Cerberus fits because both characters dedicated their lives to gaurding and protecting something sacred to them. On top of that, both of them are good bois, and I wouldn't have it any other way.
"You don't have to save the world to find meaning in life, sometimes all you need is something simple...like someone to take care of"
Yukari's arc is one of the most affecting. She learns that her origins (in the form of her father) were actually dark and reprehensible, and struggles with the whole question of, "how do I keep living when I know I came from this?" The way she is able to find her own answer to that question, but then learns that she came from grace all along and has nothing she needs to seek forgiveness for... it's one of the most nuanced, true-to-life journeys
"Permission tree"? Shouldn't it be "persimmon tree"?
Xeeeeeeenoooooooblaaaaaaaadeeeeee
@@tealluma6528 Don't forget me!
@@Yo5463 Think you can take me?
Don't care what anyone says. P3 is my favorite game of all time
yeah you're right mine too
Yea me too
Same, plus I grew up playing it in my childhood
Persona 2 is much better
@@hadoo1973 Persona 4 is much better
Still watching through it, but in defense of Yuko: it's a story about a slacker discovering her passion for taking care of people. In the beginning, she has no ambition or drive to do anything beyond the bare minimum. As the social link progresses and she interacts with the elementary students more, she realizes how much pride and satisfaction she gets out of coaching people. She ends up dedicating herself to physical therapy studies, which is an intense course load (it's medicine-adjacent, after all) for someone who had previously been slacking off. She even mentions in the epilogue that her grades suck and she needs to do a lot of catching up to get where she wants to go, but she's making the sacrifices she needs to make on the way to realizing her goals. It's a great message for young people who still don't know who they are and who have just been coasting through life.
Yuko is very good..
She's the cutest
Persona 3's ending is the only video game ending that has made me cry in front of others. You know how sad things are usually less likely to make you cry in front of others because of your pride? This game broke that for me. I remember being in a 3-way discord call with my friends when finishing this game and had to wipe my eyes every 5 seconds. Really shows how powerful that ending is.
Same i don’t really cry at all this got me tho
Personally, I have no problem crying in front of others, but I do find it difficult to cry in general. There are a few things that can make me cry though...
MGS3
P3, FFX, Nier Automata and MGS3 all got me cutting onions.
Bro my game literally crashed at the end checking the sanctuary girl social link epilogue in march 💀💀💀
Had to watch the ending on youtube. I'd say Mother 3 is the only ending that made me cry man's tears for real.
Hey everyone! I've just uploaded a Persona 4 Analysis in the same style as this video. So if you enjoyed this one, I suggest you take a look at the brand new video.
ua-cam.com/video/CujlchNaHNc/v-deo.html&ab_channel=Nam12399
Fes is short for Festival, the Japanese title of it.
I do wish strega got a bit more story, I think they are proberly the most forgettable antagonists in the series, I feel as if they only existed to kill off a main character to make the game more dark
Strega does suck :/
Strega was ass
Revolver Jesus
Strega could have been so cool, but they do nothing.
Absolutely fantastic video, Nam. This game was life changing for me at the time it came out. I was a sheltered teen entering adulthood and this game gave me the motivation to step outside my shell and experience greater things in life. I haven't played it in about 13 years now, but watching this took me back to those days. It's crazy how much a video game can influence a person and I owe so much to Persona 3.
0:20 ahhh yes my favorite persona spinoff persona 2 innocent sin
Don't forget the original Persona in that lineup.
I think the idea is that they're the PSP remasters? But that's still hardly a spinoff.
@@princeperot7568 that's the idea yes ^^
I'm not ashamed to say that my love for Persona came from Persona 5 and Royal but I am really wanting to go through all the previous games and keep up with the series! This analysis is super useful and really helpful for someone like me who is new compared to other fans but really wants to climb to the top!~
Hope you get to enjoy most of MegaTen games 👍🏻
How is that going?
Hmm. I wonder if it was a deliberate decision on Atlus' part to not give the male party members social links because they developed so much during the main story, at least compared to the women. I've always felt that since Mitsuru's S.Link dovetails with the death of her father and the Kyoto trip, that her full character arc is the two taken together; but with Akihiko, since he has a complete arc in the main story, giving him a social link wouldn't really add much. I suppose Shinji could've used one to flesh out his character, but somehow I think it would be even more devastating to permanently lose a party member _and_ a social link on October 4th.
Also, while I really like Akihiko's second awakening and the general idea of some transformations being plot-triggered, we run into a problem of diminishing returns when _every_ party member follows this route. The ladies' really should've been at the end of their social links like in P4/5 with the possible exception of Yukari (since, as you noted, fuck-all happens in her S.Link). But yeah, plot-triggered second awakenings should make a comeback in P6 in beyond, so we stop running into this problem of characters dropping off after they're introduced and you complete their S.Link in the first half of the game.
also S.Link is broken don't click on it ;P
I absolutely agree. I think persona 4 suffers with character moments in the plot the most. Their introduced and the first half of their character arcs are accepting their flaws as people and the social links are supposed to be the other half. The characters better themselves with the help of Narukami. I really like the idea of that but it does have the problem that you mentioned where the character arcs can be completed pretty early on if you chose to. I think the idea was that you are supposed to max out the party members in the later half of the game, but due to the way the game is designed, players can easily not do that. I still like the way it’s handled in 4 but Persona 5 definitely improves on that imo.
This is a nice retrospective on P3. That ending still gets me to tear up. I’m surprised you didn’t talk more about the velvet room’s form in this game and how it related to the final battle with Nyx because that was a really neat detail. It really is one of the best PlayStation 2 RPGs.
Thanks a lot for making this video. It’s a great recap and analysis for those of us who’ll never play the game.
I only recently realized that the story Nanako reads for school in her social link in P4 was Akinari’s book
Persona 3 was the first I played, when I was 13/14 and damn the ending hit me really hard.
I prefer how most party members in persona 3 didn't have social links when we look at how the links have been handled in future games with party members they either have to be small stories or when they should have a large effect on the character you don't see that once you leave the social link but without those two parts of the game coming into conflict we are able to have great moments like akihiko's awakening or junpeis arc .
Also yeah most atlus additions are awful, i cant remember if it was added in fes or p3p but there is the shinji coma survival which i assume you agree that one is terrible too.
It was P3P that added the Shinji coma in the Female route and it's an addition that I feel ruins it as much as the Chidori situation that I talked about in the video.
The later Persona games, while having social links with party members, does suffer with the character's growth in the main plot in particular since it has to be written in a way that doesn't include social link development, in case people didn't do them. If the situation was handled more like, let's say Aigis, where she has her own character arc in the game's plot, but the social link gives extra context and strengthens the story that has already been told. Then that would be perfect.
But, if we take Persona 4 for example. We have the party members go through their mini-arcs of them accepting their own flaws, and then the social links are supposed to be the other half of their character development where they grow past their flaws and better themselves. So it has the problem that you mentioned where the social links for the party members don't have much impact on the plot.
So I do agree with what you say but personally I didn't find it too distracting. I think that the social links do a good enough job at giving the characters their primary motivations. I do wish we had more like Aigis though.
It also makes sense with its name: "Social Link" or "Commu Link" is a relationship you make with the people inside the community, not just the people in your team. While the party members are the most important people in your journey, having several social links connected to them feels limited. It means the protagonist only spends time with his small circle of friends rather than befriending people all around town.
@@manat31790 Yeah that's why I liked 3's S links so much. You got a lot more people to learn about and interact with than just your team. We already have some main story S links, I don't think every party member needs one but that's just me I guess.
SkrataNe yea I don’t like how all party members development is locked behind a S link in 4 tbh
I like all social links
Hey man, great video with a lot of details. Thank you for putting the hard work into this man
Say what you may, but that animation of the protagonist pointing a gun to their heads and the shatter effetct of the shot is SUCH A COOL WAY OF SUMMONING A CREATURE. It's creative, it's COOL, it's IMPACTFUL!!! I LOVE THAT
By far your best video!
4 years late, but strega not having motivation is the point isnt it. They detach themselves from everything which contrasts with the main characters. The main characters choose to not live in ignorant bliss but rather to face death. When you choose to kill ryoji and they lose their memories, they live more like strega do just not taking the future seriously. Thats what makes it the bad ending. Goes along with the whole apathy thing too.
Best ending to a game for me loved the plot so much make one for persona 4
Imagine being a beta tester for these games, man that gotta suck.
Why so?
why
@@starleaf-luna because how long it was.. but for me i like lengthy games specially games like 100+ of hours to beat.
name Less yea and u have to be alright at games too u also gotta cry
@@Naim-Lest it's not even that lengthy. It's no longer than a FF game
I love this game just beat it for the first time and I can’t stop thinking about it and how beautifully tragic the ending was. So good.
Yea for a whole week after that was the only thing I was thinking about it really is affectable
Persona 3 changed my life. Or, at least my relationship to video games. I'd never before played a game where I cared so much about the characters, felt so many things... it made me a lifelong fan of Persona and will always be an important game to me even if it's been surpassed technically.
Super underrated channel! Great videos!
I’m rewatching this after playing reload, FES was my first game and I like how they fixed most of the problems Nam complained about.
This is hilarious after seeing Nam's review for Reload
@@leosee-through6147 I was wondering if anyone else came back to this after Nam's review of Reload and found this hilarious.
😂
I finished playing Persona 3 last month, and man did I enjoyed it. I guess my favorite social link would be Yukari, since I would do the same things she did.
Overall, the game is awesome, I’m glad I got into the Persona series through this one, since it talks about something as serious as accepting death and doesn’t make it complicated.
Nice video dude, I loved every second of it.
Me: Oh, he's sleeping on her lap
Nam: -talks about mc dying-
Me: wait WHAT
Ah yes, the Permission tree. God forbid they cut it down without asking for persimmon to do so.
As someone who's played through this game like 5 times, I have never even talked to nozomi
I did like 5 of his links on the first playthrough only to try to get all links but I knew I couldn't, go I never did it again, and now I'm playing portables femc route and shinji was like the third one I maxed cuz he deserves the love.
Also nozomi deserves that guy beating him up, he's a fat ass glutton with nothing to live for. He's also such a prick if you get wrong answers kn food and is so damn ugly physically and personality wise.
Sincerely The Moon Arcana persona's were the least interesting to me so I blankly ignored completely that Social Link.
Persona 3 will always hold a special place in my heart, especially because it's what got me into shin megami tensei games and jrpgs in general. I remember getting a modchip for our ps2 which gaves us the opportunity to download roms and paste them onto blank dvd-rs. It just so happens that my brother managed to find persona 3 back in 2007 and atlus was releasing p3fes, p4 and p3p in a short period of time, so persona was pretty much my life back in the day.
"Did you see that shinji!?"
:'c
HAH!
It's funny cause he's fucking dead
@@vanitas4841 thats what akihiko says after shinji dies while you kill an enemy in your team.
Imagine you walk by Akihiko's room and hear this: 47:24
Say gex
Amazing video. Hope you'll do more of these, both on the other Persona games as well as the rest of the SMT series.
I know Persona 4 and Persona 5 are getting big videos like this one for sure! I'd love to do the other Megaten games in the future too!
That tiny little "oof" at 1:02:35 while 9999 damage pops up, and then just a casual "woah, ah" while he dies cracks me up. It's like "oh well, that's a lot of damage, meh".
Maybe it's just his version of Minato's "I don't care", and it does make sense considering what happens next.
Persona 3 is my favorite Persona! FES stands for Festival I believe? I don't remember why they did that (like how P4 did Golden and P5 did Royal). P3P was such a fun bonus game and I loved being able to be a female protag and romancing the boys
Actually, the act of pointing the gun on your head and pull the trigger in order to summon the persona is because in that way you would be in a near death experience, by forth a persona can be drawn out. There was a scene where Mitsuru and her father were in grave danger and she could summon her persona without the Ivoker. It's because of the same reason.
If I remember correctly, a member of SEES had mentioned it in persona Q or Q2
Also P3 was the first SMT game i played, and tbh, it was easy even on the highest difficulty because it has a smooth learning curve for new players. P4 on the other hand had a merciless early game with that frickin chariot piece of crap (I played hard mode btw). And then they neff it to baby play in P4G. Finally, P5 is a brain dead game with too many good tactics for your team to beat the enemies, while they only know to attack you.
I think that the suicidal way to summon a Persona is inspired in the believing of "A human will reveal it's true self when it's about to die", and because no one has really acepted death, or better sayed, no one wants to really die or see themselves diying, they need to simulate death.
Maybe that is why Tatsuya doesn't need an Evoker, he already accepted his death in every way not caring for the future, only the present
@@bautistaparrondo438 Wait, you mentioned Tatsuya in which game anyway? Is Tatsuya in P2, if so P2 wasn't use gun, was they? If in P3 then the closest one I can think of was Takaya from Strega. Well in his case, he's somewhat special. Remember he used to be an experimenter at the time the Kijiro's group investergate in Shadow. He also mention how his Persona was forced out instead of awaken. I dunno, Atlus never give the straight answer to it, but rather through some very short dialogue between characters scattered throughout many games.
Oh yes, I forgot his name. But yes, they forced out the Persona's of the other members of Strega, but Jin and Chidori use an Evoker to summon it, quite strange anyways
@@bautistaparrondo438 Tatsuya and the rest of the p1 and p2 casts don't need evokers because they got their personas from philemon, who is igor's boss and creator.
This explanation is kind of weird imo because the characters know that it's not a real gun. Like, what IS the Evoker? Is it just a toy gun? If so, then even if it's shaped like a real gun, anyone would realize nothing will happen, thus there's no life-threatening situation in using it. This would be like saying shooting an empty Nerf to your head is "life threatening". And even then, would the Evoker even be needed to simulate a life-threatening situation when fighting a shadow is already one? So actual monsters that kill people are not life-risking, but a fake gun is?
The symbolism is cool and I appreciate it but this in-world explanation just seems... weird?
I finished ps3 fes twice and I never knew you can bring Chidori back to life. Not even the UA-camrs I know who played the game never brought this up once. That's strange to me. Thanks for this analysis, my guy. Subb.
Since you mentioned you enjoyed P4 better, will you be doing a video on the rest of the persona games? Like P4 Golden and P5 Royal? I loved this video and would like to see you do this same kind of detailed analysis on those two. Either way, keep up the amazing work
Absolutely! I have a lot to say about those games as well. Persona 4 will be the project I work on after I finish the one I'm writing currently (It's taking longer than expected because it's going to be a really long video as well) so It won't take a super long time to get to Persona 4 Golden, but it'll still take some time before that one comes out.
@@NamsCompendium
To extend on op's question, will you review other SMT games aside from the persona series? Anyway, i really liked this video so keep this up!
@@funninoriginal6054 I'd love to talk about more Megaten games in the future for sure! I know I would like to make videos on Nocturne and the DDS duology for sure. Raidou might happen if I end up having enough to say about the two games once I sit down and actually finish them. The 3ds games might happen, it just depends on the recording method since I don't own a 3ds capture card. I know Citra exists, but I just need to make sure that everything will run well when recording at the same time.
But yes, I will make videos on other Megaten games at some point!
I haven't played P4 yet. I'm really pacing out my SMT games because it is the only series that truly scratches my gaming itch. The darkness, aesthetic, story, music, philosophy and creativity are all unrivaled imo. I'm playing through Persona 2 EP right now. Its a bit of a slog but totally worth a play so far.
@@Bradley_Lute Guess someone is not gonna enjoy P4 then
My first persona was persona 2 for the ps1 but the diffrent direction with p3 as in social links, calender timed dates, a real traditional turnbased jrpg really made the serie into what it is.
Persona 3-5 (which btw had a diffrent development team) is def on their own in the Persona serie and should be started with- not persona 1 or 2. Ofc you will learn some about Philemon the butterfly spirit in Persona 2- which persona games refers to (igor is his agent for ex) and butterflies are savepoints in persona 4 and a butterfly calls out to the hero in persona 5 in other words these blue butterflies are a sign of philemons work and helping the protagonist.
quezcatol part of me has wanted to have Philemon as a secret boss again just as a nod to Persona 1 & Persona 2. I do think that those old games are still worth looking at, but there’s a reason why Persona 3 onwards is more known.
@@NamsCompendium In Carl Jungs (creator of persona theory) book Philemon is a good spirit and I would love to know more about him in a future persona title atleast.
I like how because of this video I'm playing the PSP version of persona 3
It’s certainly the best version in my eyes
@@NamsCompendium I agree with you especially the ending can't help but shed a tear
@@NamsCompendium You could still do the FeMC analysis from P3P and compare it to Minato's story.
Please
Storm King no not rlly imo cuz it makes the game too ez and it’s not the actual P3 experience the game was NEVER built around P4 battle system
@@NamsCompendium it's not
I think Yukari’s is possibly good because one would see more of her character in Persona 3 Portable, in the FEMC’s route. That, and a possible thing is Junpei could’ve been hitting on her or something of the sort. So naturally it may be hard for one to not shut one out in every chance that they get. Yukari has a better character than she’s given credit for, we’re just only introduced to a part of it is how I perceive it.
Fantastic analysis! You really nailed the criticisms I had with the game without being overly critical or disregarding the positive elements. I'm excited to see another Persona 4 or 5 analysis of this caliber! Either way, you've earned yourself another subscriber. You've clearly got talent!
0:19 The best spinoffs, Persona 1 and Persona 2 Innocent sin
Looking forward to your p4 video if you ever do one.
Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal are certainly getting videos like this one eventually!
@@NamsCompendium Awesome! Can't wait.
The battle system is inherently flawed, but once you've learned how the AI operates it becomes much easier to control and you can make it through the game with very few mistakes on the AI's part. There are some beginner tutorials made by a guy named Shura and he explains all of the mechanics including some things that may not be so clear.
@@RobertoMaybe1 you will hate nocturne then
Persona 3 is the reason why I got so hooked to the SMT games, I've played all the current Persona games and it was a fantastic ride! I also heard that atlus was having a rough time when making this game which is the main reason why it's an ALMOST perfect game, out of all the Persona games this one is my favourite, I love everything about it except the tiring system which was fixed in P4 and P5, I love the whole self-sacrifice thingy. Persona 4's story is like Jojo DiU and I like it but not as much as P3, the story felt okay for me but the characters, they were solid, Kanji is my fav. And then there's P5, I liked the story and the characters, Morgana really loves telling Ren to go to sleep and it was bloody annoying, good thing it's not like that in P5R.. I also love the first two Persona especially the 2nd one, I really like Maya. After playing all the Persona games including the dancing ones and the two PQ games in 3ds I always want more so I played the other SMT.. I played SMT Devil survivor overclocked first and it was BLOODY fantastic.. It went on and on and on, Devil summoner, SMT IV, Apocalypse, Strange Journey, nocturne, digital devil story, SMT NINE, even the If one.. Out of all the SMT I've played, Devil Survivor and Nocturne are my favourites.
The message of the sun social link is truly beautiful through and through.
It is interesting, Persona 5 is how I got into the series and I really, really liked it, so much so that I immediately went to play Persona 3 Portable. In my opinion, that version of the game IS great, and is currently my 2nd favorite game of all time behind Suikoden II; its characters are fantastic, the plot is both relevant and compelling, and the gameplay mechanics are greatly improved from the earlier versions while still retaining a lot of the difficulty on its hardest settings. Then I went to play Persona 4 and want greatly disappointed for several reasons; the story is a mystery with no clues, the themes essentially try to hammer the same message home again and again, and the gameplay (besides the first 2 dungeon bosses) is really easy, regardless of difficulty. Not to mention I found the characters to have the same consistency problem that exists in 5, although the good characters really are great (Kanji, for example).
I feel the same, after finishing P3 I started playing P4 excepting something amazing judging by its popularity and the praise it got, only to be dissapointed. It's inferior to P3 in almost every aspect. The story is lame, just a scooby do-esque adventure that leaves no strong message by the end of it. I first thought Tartarus is bad, then comes P4 dungeons with its very long hallways and awful music. Speaking of which, the music is okay but not as great as P3's music. The way of summonig personas in P3 was badass compared to P4, crushing your arcana card is meh in comparison. The s.links of P4 are bad and have no memorable inpact, Akinari's social link is by far better than all of P4's s.links combined. The characters of P4 are its forte but then again, only few are really good like Kanji and Yousuke, I feel like P3's characters are slightly better.
@@morya9 Probably the biggest reason I dislike Persona 4 is the fact that the game was marketed to me as a mystery, a type of game I really enjoy as someone who likes picking up on small details in an effort to piece together a larger picture. I spent a LOT of time trying to learn as much as I could about Inaba in order to find the murderer...and was incredibly disappointed that none of that information mattered...at all. You finding out the true identity of the killer was nothing more than being given a list of "candidates" and narrowing them down with three "guesses", even when you confront the correct killer, you have no evidence and just happen to be right. Even the good ending does not reward the player for astute observational skills, but instead forces you to jump through lawyer hoops; I KNEW that it was wrong to punish Namatme because I paid very close attention to him in Inaba and believe he was innocent...but because I happened to give the wrong emotional response to my idiot friends (with SIX chances to fail), I was not rewarded for this observation. Yeah, I eventually got the "correct" sequence, but it did not feel rewarding...and for a mystery to not reward the player for attention to detail is something that really makes the other aspects of the game seem much worse, as well.
@@bigtimetimmyjim6486 What personally threw me off was the change in tone. I'm not a fan of campy or stereotypical characters unless they do something with it instead of their personalities ending there. Persona 4 was choke full of said characters. From party members to teachers and random students and passers by. I can honestly say that I had a terrible experience playing the game because, for starters, My game crashed 3 times in the infamous 3 hours intro of Persona 4, got tonal whiplash after playing it right after Persona 3, and then got the killers identity spoiled to me, which made finishing the game more of a chore because you honestly don't get reason to suspect he's the "killer", I honestly checked Every time I could and couldn't see him as the killer. One thing I'm happy for is that I played Vanilla P4 instead of Golden. I would have totally given up midway on Golden if it was right after P3. Better game mechanics don't make up for a bad presentation or story for me.
Davned FES is better imo cuz portable makes the game too ez and bringing back shinjiro fucks with P3s themes and it’s like P4 mechanics don’t work with P3 I say FES is the superior product imo
@@bigtimetimmyjim6486 Damn I guess Atlus doesn't know anything about Murder Mysteries.....
Persona 3 video in 2020? It seems that i have found my favorite youtube channel.
Damn
This was a fantastic
I can't wait to see the persona 4 and 5 videos
Even though P3 is my favorite game in the series, I can definitely see why someone wouldn’t think it was great, or even why someone wouldn’t think it’s good at all. For example, I think not being able to select Skills for personas and not being able to control party members makes the game more challenging and more fun for me.
Tru
I wouldn't mind not picking skills in persona 5 . I always feel like I'm picking the wrong ones
@@cr-nd8qh
That's what I'm saying. I think it would make it a bit more frustrating for people that know what their doing tho
@@jackbassett3091 yea I'm on my first playthrough and I play blind
I enjoy Persona 3, but I wish you could control your party like you could in the portable version. The story was really solid imo.
Well no controllable party fucks with P3s mechanics as the game was wonderfully built around no controllable party plus it ain’t that bad
@@raidoukuzonoha883 Oh yeah, Mitsuru spamming Marin Karin isn't bad at all. Bruh
@@cristianmastrocicco4552 tactics dudd
@@raidoukuzonoha883 It's still RNG based, for fuck sake. Even the smallest flaw in your plan can ruin everything, expecially during a boss battle
@@cristianmastrocicco4552 not... rlly lmao
Man, what the hell, I've never played this game before and I didn't know anything about it before watching this and it made me cry 😭
Great vid! Loved it!
Oh great, now i'm crying again. This is the best Persona for me, it has the best story and characters!
If this ever gets a PC port I'm going to buy it so fucking hard. Also, I've binge watched all of your videos this weekend and man...the pure love and devotion you have for these games really shines through. I've never played P3 (tho it was my introduction to the series via a walkthrough) and I really like the darker tone it has compared to the newer titles. And that fucking ending...man...there's just no words that can express how it made me feel. This series is special to me because of its social aspect and they've helped me growing up more than anything or anyone in my life. P4 was a lifechanging experience for me and after this video I feel like P3 too has become part of that whole thing. Amazing content and I can only hope you won't stop making these.
I didn't expect to cry, but man, Akinari's SL, cuz I didn't really understand much back then, but it gives me the feely feels
Great video.
I'm personally of the opinion that if they remade P3 with some of the enhanced gameplay elements of 4 and 5, fixed the pacing in the story and some of the social links, made Strega actual characters with more impact, gave Minato social links with the guys of SEES without having to play as FemC, and tweaked Tartarus to be a bit more interesting, and less unforgiving, maybe add some stuff to break up the monotony of it a bit, I honestly think it would be the best game in the series, if not one of the best games of all time.
I think it has a very solid base, with an amazing soundtrack, interesting (if occasionally a little misused) battle mechanics, a great cast of characters, and an ending that hits like a brick shithouse of emotion, it's just held back by some things I think they could easily fix with a remake.
I also just want to see Elizabeth pour millions of yen into a fountain in HD.
Great review, but I must say, in regards to social links: most of time, Minato is too passive but people are too grateful to him. You barely say or do things to actively help them and, yeah, I get that being there is a great help too, but the other characters seem to see Minato as a god of friendship or something.
In Personas 4 and 5, the MC is much more active, they DO things for people, so I'm glad they changed that aspect between games.
I liked Moon social link, because it's batshit insane. You start talking about things, like food or Nozomi being resentful of his brother, due to society comparing them nonstop (according to him), then there is a fucking cult. Also, he does change in that he learns to accept his brother, despite what people say to him, and that he shouldn't evaluate himself according to others, he should be himself, so he stops eating to drow his insecurities and self-loathe with food to focus on it as a profession and love. He shows himself to be worse than you initally think, but I don't think he gets WORSE. He still is an asshole, though.
Also, I don't agree with the mechanic assessment, that not controlling your party and having to spend a lot of time on fusion to get the skills. People would be doing the fusion in the way they want, me included, so the mechanic just gets in the way, it's boring as all shits to me. And I goddamn hate not controlling the party, even if they are smarter. There being both is just quality of life.
Of course, these are just my opinion and people see it differently, so I am not attacking anyone who see things differently from me.